You won't get much more of out specialty grains. Some people do sparge with 170 degree water over the brewpot (not cold water!) but you don't really get sugars out of them. They are more for color and flavor.

For more body, there are several things that can help. I know Carapils or Dextrine malt (same thing) leave no color or flavor, but body behind in the beer. Some people add maltodextrine to their wort to increase viscosity and mouthfeel. You don't want to over do these things, but a little really helps.

I would also suggest that maybe you're ready to move away from kits and find a recipe you like. You can tweak a recipe however you want, and everyone on the board can help you with ideas.

__________________Broken Leg BreweryGiving beer a leg to stand on since 2006

I'd love to try out all grain brewing, but I know the process is much more involved and requires MORE equipment. I'm already over $1000 into my mini-brewery and don't feel ready to make the jump just yet.

Thanks for the tips, maybe I'll have to order some extra carapils to add to my steeping grains... I also have maltodextrin but I'm not sure on how much to add for adjusting body.

Hmmm, I don't know how much maltodextrine to add either. I also have some but only use it for my son's rootbeer. Carapils is probably your best bet- I can't remember the chemistry but it is supposed to leave long chain carbohydrate molecules behind. Here's an interesting BYO article on carapils: http://byo.com/mrwizard/776.html

You sure don't need much to do the job, maybe .5 pound or so in a heavy bodied beer. I used about 7 ounces in Orfy's Hobgoblin clone.

Edit- AG isn't really terrible involved. It seems like it, but really isn't at all. If you're making good beer with steeping grains and extract, I'd suggest PM or AG. If I can do it, anyone can!

__________________Broken Leg BreweryGiving beer a leg to stand on since 2006

Hmmm, I don't know how much maltodextrine to add either. I also have some but only use it for my son's rootbeer. Carapils is probably your best bet- I can't remember the chemistry but it is supposed to leave long chain carbohydrate molecules behind. Here's an interesting BYO article on carapils: http://byo.com/mrwizard/776.html

You sure don't need much to do the job, maybe .5 pound or so in a heavy bodied beer. I used about 7 ounces in Orfy's Hobgoblin clone.

Edit- AG isn't really terrible involved. It seems like it, but really isn't at all. If you're making good beer with steeping grains and extract, I'd suggest PM or AG. If I can do it, anyone can!

PM or AG sound fantastic to me.. My only problem is that my turkey burner only has an 8 gallon pot. I sometimes have trouble not boiling over my extract full boils and I only start with 6 gallons of water. I'm afraid to go AG because of that stupid pot. Not handy enough to make a keggle although if I ever find one close to me reasonable I'll buy it in a minute. What is the average boil amount for an AG batch?

Well, I just have the turkey fryer pot too. I start with 6.4 gallons and watch it carefully until after the hot break. After that, I can walk away, no problem and end up with 5.25 gallons after straining the wort.

Now, your stove/burner may not give you the same results. And you have better efficiency if you start with more wort and boil it down. But I had a very limited budget and bought the turkey fryer earlier this summer. Prior to that, I was splitting my batch and boiling 3.5 gallons in two different kettles and then combining them. (I lost more to evaporation when I was boiling two kettles). My point is, where there is a will there IS a way!

__________________Broken Leg BreweryGiving beer a leg to stand on since 2006

Carapils need to be mashed so your best option would be to just add some malto dextrine.

Thank you for that point on carapils, noted!!

Any ideas on how much maltodextrine to add for a moderate bump in the body of a lower gravity ale?

I added equal amounts of priming sugar and maltodextrin (3/4 cup each) to my Holiday Ale just before bottling. Initial taste test seemed very thin. A few weeks and I'll pop one open and see how it is.

I did not add any malto to my Honey Amber and even though it has not carbed yet, there is almost no head retention at all, I can barely get it to foam up and it doesn't have the desired body either. Thinking malto might have been good addition here too, but I'm just not sure about the quantity. Unless someone on here knows a bit more about that, I'm left to experiment...

Carapils need to be mashed so your best option would be to just add some malto dextrine.

Yeah, carapils needs to be mashed. But that's not a problem if you are steeping grains anyway. You can add a pound of 2 row and .5 pound of carapils to your steeping grains and steep at 155. You'll get the benefit.

I'm not sure why you're having these problems. Could your glassware be a culprit? Any detergent or jet dry from the dishwasher left on a glass can kill the head of even the best beer. Just a thought.

__________________Broken Leg BreweryGiving beer a leg to stand on since 2006